There is a yummy concoction common to many countries in southwest Asia ["the Middle East"] and far northern Africa in which stewed tomatoes, sauteed onions, peppers and garlic are put on brown rice with loosely poached eggs on top. Andala Coffee House, right near my apartment, calls it shokshokeh, but the dish is also spelled shakshuka, chakchouka, etc. Since I first tasted shokshokeh at Andala, I will spell it Andala’s way and tell you about Andala’s ingredients.

Now shokshokeh is a recipe that varies depending on what you put in it. The only constants are eggs and tomatoes. The Andala version has stewed tomatoes, sauteed onions and garlic on top of fluffy brown rice. On top of the tomato sauce are two poached eggs seeping into the tomatoes [but not too much]. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner because it’s a good amount of food, neither too heavy nor too filling.

As I mentioned, recipes for shokshokeh vary. Here’s one from Jewlicious that eschews onions. The one from MoTV calls for scrambled, not poached, eggs. The one from Mediterrasian.com has a lot of fiery red spices in it, but the version I have experience with is mild and savory. Maybe I will try to get the recipe from Andala!